


The Things Men Do

by Crystalwren



Category: Saiunkoku
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2013-04-20
Packaged: 2017-12-09 00:25:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalwren/pseuds/Crystalwren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alcohol, bringing out your inner bastard since 10 000 BC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. of Two

The Red Light district was bustling, the night air sharp, and the air was filled with laughter and the seductive ballads of courtesans of both genders and all classes. Shurei stalked amongst the crowd, her head held high, her Government Official’s uniform and Kouchou’s guide protecting her from anything worse than a few derisive catcalls. Her feet struck the ground with rather more force than necessary, and her teeth were clenched tightly. Shurei was

pissed

off

and muttered under her breath as she walked: “Idiot...dolt...never been so embarrassed...” The guide politely ignored the steady stream of vitriol and trotted efficiently in front of her. In a short order of time he brought her to a modest tea house, bowed politely and vaporised. Shurei stomped inside.

The interior was dim and gave the impression of being cramped and airless. This house catered to men determined to drown their misery in alcohol, and was deliberately designed to depress the soul and make the alcohol consumption rise even higher. She was blinded for a second as her eyes adjusted, but soon enough, she could see the pale hair of Seiran shining in the darkness. There was a prostitute next to him, patting his hand in a soothing fashion, which he utterly ignored as he swigged directly from a bottle of sake.

Shurei snarled.

“Seiran. You’re coming home. Now.”

Seiran swung around and regarded her belligerently. The prostitute, recognising trouble when she saw it, decided that discretion was the better part of valour and vaporised. “Go away.”

“Now, Seiran.”

“No.” He thought for a second, and then added, “Milady.”

“Yes,” she hissed. Her hand shot out and seized Seiran’s ear. With a chorus of snickers from the other patrons, the small woman dragged the tall man outside. He was too surprised to argue.

“Outside!” She pushed him through the doorway. He swayed and almost fell, his arm landing across her shoulders, his weight making her grunt.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she gasped as they walked, “I can’t believe that you actually hit Santa. In front of me. In front of his parents!”

“He asked you to marry him,” Seiran pointed out reasonably, “I did warn him.” He made an ‘oof’ sound as her elbow connected with his ribs.

“It wasn’t the first time.”

“Yes, but you said you’d think about it.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“He’s not good enough for you.” Serian pressed his face against her neck. “You didn’t have to slap me like that,” he said miserably.

“You deserved it! You’ve harassed, intimidated and even beaten every suitor I’ve had! Would you have me be alone all of my life?” Seiran was silent, but Shurei could feel his mouth working against her collar. Distastefully, she imagined saliva and sake-befouled laundry. If Seiran thought that she was washing the garments that either of them was wearing right now, he had another thought coming. Suddenly, she stopped short. “Oh no. Ohhh, no.”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t believe it. Shuei-sama. And Kouyu-sama. What they both doing here?”

“Hmm.”

“I can’t let them see you like this.”

“Don’t care.”

“Shut up, Seiran.” Panting with effort, she steered the both of them into a dark little cul-de-sac between two buildings. Mercifully, it was unoccupied by nothing more than a bad smell and away from the light, they were effectively invisible. Shurei watched Kouyu and the general with narrowed eyes. “I can’t believe this. This is the worst sort of luck. Of all the places and times for them to stop and have an argument.”

 

“I told you, I don’t care,” said Seiran, breathing in her ear. “I don’t care if they see me or not.” His arm snaked about her waist, and he pulled her against him. Seiran touched her so rarely that she was still with shock, but she quickly recovered and attempted to ram her elbow into his gut. “I’d rather you didn’t do that.” He efficiently pinned her arms to her sides. And

licked

her ear. She was too astonished to cry out as he turned pressed her against the brick. Her breasts painfully against the rough surface and she whined as Seiran used his weight to pin her there. “Sei-Seiran,” she managed to say, “What are you doing?”

“What Milady doesn’t realise,” he said, his strong-smelling breath against her face, “Is that there is only one type of man in the world. And they only want on type of thing.” And he tugged down her collar and tenderly kissed her neck. Shurei could still see Shuei and Kouyu out of one eye and she swallowed.

“Seiran,” she said, her voice shaking only slightly, “Let me go. Now. You’re drunk. You are not yourself.”

Seiran snorted, and bit her. Hard. “All right. Call them. Have them come to your rescue.”

“I- I don’t want them to see-”

“Why not?” He moaned quietly and rocked his hips against the small of her back. “Why would it embarrass you? I’m nobody. I’m just someone your father rescued out of misguided pity. You’re a princess. Call them. Cry out. Have them drag me off you and beat me in the street.”

“You’re not nobody, Seiran. I don’t want them to hurt you.” She drew in a sobbing breath as he ran his hands down her sides like he was stroking a cat, and then began to hitch up her robe.

“Why not? Aren’t you frightened? Aren’t I scaring you...Shurei?” He yanked down her undergarments and she gasped as the cold air hit her skin. “Shurei. I’m a man. I want the same things any other man wants off you. Even more, because I love you. Do you understand? I love you.”

Shurei tried to swallow, but her throat was too tight. She couldn’t cry out even if she wanted too; all she could do as whimper softly as his calloused hands gilded up and down the insides of her thighs.

“Oh, Shurei. Shurei.” Tenderly, he cupped her sex with his palm. “I’ve thought about this...for so long.” His mouth moved against her neck, the side of her face. He licked the corner of her ear, and then suddenly his weight vanished. Before she could move, he dropped to his knees and sank his teeth into her buttock. She could hardly seem to breathe as she felt his fingers scratch nimbly through her pubic hair, and was incapable of resisting as he gently pulled her hips away from the wall so she was bent at the waist. And she felt his mouth work against her vaginal lips as he

slid his tongue inside of her.

Fingernails scratched against the brick as she clawed at it, trying to find something to hold onto. Seiran’s tongue left her body, but then wrapped itself around her clitoris. His calluses scrapped the flesh inside of her as his long fingers worked themselves in and it was so good, better than the little tricks that Kouchou had taught her to perform on herself and suddenly, Shurei was biting her tongue to stop herself from screaming. The pleasure broke over her in wave after wave, and she utterly forgot that she was standing in a foul-smelling alley with two of her friends and countless strangers standing just feet away.

Finally, the shudders eased away, and Seiran’s fingers slipped out. He pressed a final kiss to the little knot and stood, clumsily tugging her undergarments up. Breathing hard, Shurei quickly set her garments to rights and pushed Seiran away when he tried to embrace her.

“Shurei...”

“We’re going home.”

Shuei and Kouyu were long gone. She stalked out of the alley and into the red light district, head held high, Seiran stumbling behind her.


	2. of Two

They were squirming on the narrow bed. Seiran had already fallen off once. Shurei had laughed, but then he’d looked hurt and she’d had to hug him in apology.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was pulling every one of her strings he could get his clever fingers on; considering he’d put most of those strings there himself, it didn’t take much effort on his part. Out of anger and sheer embarrassment she’s refused to talk to him for a week after what he’d said and did in the alley in the red light district, and tonight when she’d come home she’d found her father out late and Seiran drinking again. And crying. The crying broke her heart. She fixed him tea and sat down to talk and she wasn’t quite sure how or why, but here they were in bed together.

Seiran was surprisingly clumsy when he touched her. It wasn’t at all like Ruyuki, who’d been careful but confident, or like Kouchou who’d been elegant and knowledgeable and devastating. The calluses on his hands were rough and caught at her skin in a way that wasn’t exactly unpleasant but wasn’t exactly comfortable either. And Seiran’s kisses were very like, and hard enough to bruise. He wouldn’t lie back and let her do it, and she wasn’t prepared to let him have it all his own way so it was a sort of wrestling match, a match he could easily win if he chose to exert himself. Which annoyed her. And when his teeth sank into her collarbone with rather more force than necessary, Shurei’s temper snapped.

“Right,” she said, and drove her fingers into the base of his throat like her father had once taught her to do. Shurei was soft-hearted so she did it with rather less force than was actually needed, but it startled Seiran. Who lost his balance and fell off the bed again. “That’s enough,” she said, pulling her undershirt closed.

Seiran looked furious. “What?” he said, “You can’t just-”

“Can and will,” said Shurei firmly.

“Shurei, you can’t tease me like this. You can at least give me an explanation.” Shurei flushed in and anger and embarrassment and didn’t reply. Something rather nasty slid across Seiran’s face. “Is this how you led the Emperor on? No wonder he’s chasing you, even now.”

A more experienced and less soft-hearted woman would have smacked him. Shurei was much more one than the other, so she gaped at him and burst into tears.

Seiran looked horrified. “I didn’t mean it. Shurei, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t. It came out wrong.” He reached out to touch her, but she flinched away.

“Get out,” she said.

“Shurei...Milady...”

“Out!”

Seiran’s lovely mouth worked, as though he wanted to speak and couldn’t find the words. He set his clothes to rights and left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Shurei lit a candle. Wiping her eyes with her shaking hand, she sat down at her desk to study.

**Author's Note:**

> Written in 2009, posted on LJ.


End file.
